The crisis in the Left broke out soon that predicted by its most pessimistic friends and optimistic enemies.
The badmouthing began from the moment that the prospect of SYRIZA winning the election and (unexpectedly?) forming the government “of the Left” loomed on the political horizon: the incubating radical change in the political scene was dubbed a “left parenthesis”.
The predictions were unfavorable, based on the argument that SYRIZA had given shelter to disparate elements within its ranks, some of which had vague positions even on principle matters. The electoral victory of SYRIZA was truly capable of leading to the formation of a government “of the Left”. Would it be possible though for the “factions” within SYRIZA to form a united government?
The typically marginal political forces that formed these “factions”, as they were called, never hid the fact that by joining SYRIZA, they aimed to take advantage of the 50-seat bonus that is provided to the party that comes first by the electoral law.
The vision of assuming power acted as a cohesive force in SYRIZA, where the unavoidable internal conflicts were easily overcome, at the prospect of power. What is more impressive is that the Communist Party of Greece was excluded from this celebration of success. The symbol and flag-bearer of the Left since its foundations, the party that paid the highest price during the ‘stone years’ of the dominance of the Right was set aside by those who brought (?) the Left to power. But that is whole other story…
What is stuck in the people’s mind is that whenever the Left comes close to succeed in its goal, it stumbles and falls.
The first and last time in the past that the Left in Greece, represented by EDA, managed a major electoral win (25% in the 1958 elections), it broke up in three in order to satisfy the personal ambitions of the factions of the time.
Stavros P. Psycharis
Originally published in the Sunday print edition
